Senior citizens in need of social integration

Despite shelters for abandoned seniors, no centres provide recreational or social opportunities for elderly citizens

LAHORE:

After spending nearly all their life striving to fulfil obligations and make ends meet, elderly citizens in Pakistan hit a dead end as they approach old age, drooping into a life of desolation, where the television, newspaper or rosary inevitably emerges to be their only true companions till death.

Despite the Social Welfare Department setting up several old homes across the country to provide shelter to old people abandoned by their families, no senior centres exist for offering integrative recreational facilities and socialization opportunities to millions of elderly citizens in the country, who might want to pursue a hobby, learn a new skill or simply rant about their grievances to other fellow acquaintances but are left void of agency and are denied any meaningful participation in society since senility is stereotypically associated with a life of stagnation and old people are seen to offer little more than their earnest blessings.

Chaudhry Inam, a senior citizen who resides in Garhi Shahu, revealed that after retiring from his job he would spend the whole day confined at his home. “There is no place for elderly people to gather, socialize and pursue activities. No government has considered creating a senior centre for elderly people. Despite their lifelong contributions to the country, senior citizens are considered dysfunctional members of society,” alluded Inam.

Similarly, Sheikh Naveed, a 60-year-old retiree from Johar Town shared his resentment at the absence of recreational and socialization opportunities for senior citizens. “Since no senior centres are available, many elderly people socialize and play cards on the green belts located near Sanda, Minar-e-Pakistan, Shad Bagh, and other places during the evening hours. However, such open-air activities are contingent upon the weather and cannot be continued during the rainy or summer seasons. Therefore, many elderly people like me desire a place where we can sit and chat with our same-aged fellows to alleviate our boredom,” expressed Naveed.

For this very reason, countries like the United States openly enforce and promote the operation of senior centres, which according to the National Council on Aging (NCO) have become one of the most widely used social services since they offer a variety of recreational facilities among other services to elderly citizens including health, fitness and wellness programmes, employment assistance, educational and arts training, volunteer and civic engagement opportunities alongside meal and nutritional guidance all of which lead to perceived social and health benefits, lower incidence of depression and stress and the fostering of supportive social connections.

In addressing the grievances of senior citizens in Pakistan, Sohail Shaukat Butt, the Provincial Minister for Social Welfare acknowledged that no senior centres were available for offering recreational facilities to elderly people in the country. Whilst commending the proposal of building a senior centre, Butt affirmed that he would discuss the concept with the social welfare authorities and representatives of local communities. “In the meanwhile, Old Age Homes (Aafiat), which offer housing, food, medical care, and other amenities to elderly individuals are operational across seven districts of Punjab, including Lahore, Narowal, Toba Tek Singh, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, and Sahiwal,” he claimed.